Railroad-spike.



H. H. LANGE.

RAILROAD SPIKE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 17, 1911.

Patented Sept. 17, 1912.

HERMAN I-I. LANG-E, OF- MASON CITY, ILLINOIS.

RAILROAD-SPIKE.

osaeoa,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 17, 1912.

Application filed August 17, 1911. Serial No. 644,541.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HERMAN H. LANGE, acitizen of the United States, residing at Mason City, in the county ofMason, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Railroad-Spikes; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in railway spikesand more particularly to that class adapted for use in retaining railwayrails upon their supporting ties.

An object of this invention is the provision of a spike of suchconstruction that when positioned in the usual manner in a tie or thelike it will be securely held against displacement.

Another object of this invention is the production of a spike having avertical slot formed in one side and in which is loosely pivoted aserrated keeper for engagement with a locking wedge having serrationslocated in one of its faces for engagement with the serrations upon saidkeeper, whereby the wedge will force the keeper outwardly beyond theside of the spike and lock the same in such position.

A further object of this invention is to improve and simplify devices ofthis character rendering them comparatively simple and inexpensive tomanufacture, reliable and efficient in use and readily operated.

With the above and other objects in view,

this invention resides in the novel featuresof construction, formations,combinations and arrangements of parts to be hereinafter more fullydescribed, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved spike applied. Fig. 2 is afront view thereof. Fig. 3 is horizontal sectional view taken on theline 3-8 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectionalview taken on theline H of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the lockingwedge removed. Referring to the accompanying drawings by similarcharacters of reference throughout the several views, the numeral 10designates generally, my improved spike illustrated in connection with arail 11 and tie 12 and consisting of a body portion 13 preferablyrectangular in cross section and having a head 14 provided at one endthereof and a point 15 located at its opposite end.

A groove 16 is formed in one side of the body portion 13 and extendsvertically through the head 14:. A pivoted barb or keeper 17 is retainedin the lower extremity of the groove 16 and is formed with a beveledterminal 18 and a plurality of teeth or serrations 19 which slantdownwardly and inwardly extending into the said groove 16. When the barbor keeper 17 is moved to a vertical position its outer face will lieflush with the adjacent side of the body portion 13, while the points ofthe serrations or teeth 19 will be in contact with the bottom of thegroove 16 while the beveled portion 18 will slant from the bottom ofsaid groove upwardly and outwardly to the exterior thereof.

The numeral 20 designates a locking wedge which comprises a rectangularbody portion 21 of a size to slide vertically through the groove 16while the lower extremity of this wedge 20 is beveled as indicated bythe numeral 22 and formed with a plurality of serrations or teeth 23formed at an opposite angle to the before mentioned teeth 19 forinterlocking engagement therewith.

The improved spike is used as follows: The spike is driven into the tieor other support with its head in engagement with the base flanges of arail or the like in the customary manner. The wedge 20 is next insertedin the groove 16 until its lower beveled end 20 engages the bevel end 18of the keeper 17. The wedge is then driven downwardly through saidgroove which obviously forces the keeper or barb 17 outwardly into thetie while the teeth 22 and 19 will be forced into interlockingengagement with each other thereby locking the keeper 17 in itsoutermost position and con sequently the spike against displacement.

From the foregoing disclosure taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing it will be manifest that a spike is provided for which willfulfil all the necessary requirements of a device of this class.

Having thus described this invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is;

The combination with a spike, having a channel opening through one sideof the head thereof, the said channel extending for a greater portion ofthe length of said spike,

of a locking member pivoted in said chan-v nel near the inner endthereof, ratchet teeth formed on the inner edge of said member, a wedgeof corresponding shape with respect to the channel and of considerablyless length than the same, the said wedge being provided with a taperinginner end, and ratchet teeth formed on the outer side of the tapered endof said wedge and reversely disposed with respect to the ratchet teethon the locking member for positive engagement therewith for preventingretraction of the wedge when inserted in the channel, the said ratchetteeth being disposed throughout the area of one side of the tapered endthereof for engagement with all of the teeth on the locking member whenthe outer end is flush with the outer end of the spike.

In testimony whereof, I afiiX my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

HERMAN H. LANGE. Witnesses:

ALEXANDER D. C'ULLINAN, HENRY G. PFETZING.

Corsies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C.

